Found 1 items, similar to To back the field.
English → English (gcide) Definition: To back the field Back \Back\ (b[a^]k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Backed (b[a^]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. Backing.] [1913 Webster] 1. To get upon the back of; to mount. [1913 Webster] I will back him [a horse] straight. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. To place or seat upon the back. [R.] [1913 Webster] Great Jupiter, upon his eagle backed, Appeared to me. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 3. To drive or force backward; to cause to retreat or recede; as, to back oxen. [1913 Webster] 4. To make a back for; to furnish with a back; as, to back books. [1913 Webster] 5. To adjoin behind; to be at the back of. [1913 Webster] A garden . . . with a vineyard backed. --Shak. [1913 Webster] The chalk cliffs which back the beach. --Huxley. [1913 Webster] 6. To write upon the back of; as, to back a letter; to indorse; as, to back a note or legal document. [1913 Webster] 7. To support; to maintain; to second or strengthen by aid or influence; as, to back a friend. “The Parliament would be backed by the people.” --Macaulay. [1913 Webster] Have still found it necessary to back and fortify their laws with rewards and punishments. --South. [1913 Webster] The mate backed the captain manfully. --Blackw. Mag. [1913 Webster] 8. To bet on the success of; -- as, to back a race horse. [1913 Webster] To back an anchor (Naut.), to lay down a small anchor ahead of a large one, the cable of the small one being fastened to the crown of the large one. To back the field, in horse racing, to bet against a particular horse or horses, that some one of all the other horses, collectively designated “the field”, will win. To back the oars, to row backward with the oars. To back a rope, to put on a preventer. To back the sails, to arrange them so as to cause the ship to move astern. To back up, to support; to sustain; as, to back up one's friends. To back a warrant (Law), is for a justice of the peace, in the county where the warrant is to be executed, to sign or indorse a warrant, issued in another county, to apprehend an offender. To back water (Naut.), to reverse the action of the oars, paddles, or propeller, so as to force the boat or ship backward. [1913 Webster] Field \Field\ (f[=e]ld), n. [OE. feld, fild, AS. feld; akin to D. veld, G. feld, Sw. f["a]lt, Dan. felt, Icel. fold field of grass, AS. folde earth, land, ground, OS. folda.] 1. Cleared land; land suitable for tillage or pasture; cultivated ground; the open country. [1913 Webster] 2. A piece of land of considerable size; esp., a piece inclosed for tillage or pasture. [1913 Webster] Fields which promise corn and wine. --Byron. [1913 Webster] 3. A place where a battle is fought; also, the battle itself. [1913 Webster] In this glorious and well-foughten field. --Shak. [1913 Webster] What though the field be lost? --Milton. [1913 Webster] 4. An open space; an extent; an expanse. Esp.: (a) Any blank space or ground on which figures are drawn or projected. (b) The space covered by an optical instrument at one view. [1913 Webster] Without covering, save yon field of stars. --Shak. [1913 Webster] Ask of yonder argent fields above. --Pope. [1913 Webster] 5. (Her.) The whole surface of an escutcheon; also, so much of it is shown unconcealed by the different bearings upon it. See Illust. of Fess, where the field is represented as gules (red), while the fess is argent (silver). [1913 Webster] 6. An unresticted or favorable opportunity for action, operation, or achievement; province; room. [1913 Webster] Afforded a clear field for moral experiments. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster] 7. A collective term for all the competitors in any outdoor contest or trial, or for all except the favorites in the betting. [1913 Webster] 8. (Baseball) That part of the grounds reserved for the players which is outside of the diamond; -- called also outfield. [1913 Webster] Note: Field is often used adjectively in the sense of belonging to, or used in, the fields; especially with reference to the operations and equipments of an army during a campaign away from permanent camps and fortifications. In most cases such use of the word is sufficiently clear; as, field battery; field fortification; field gun; field hospital, etc. A field geologist, naturalist, etc., is one who makes investigations or collections out of doors. A survey uses a field book for recording field notes, i.e., measurment, observations, etc., made in field work (outdoor operations). A farmer or planter employs field hands, and may use a field roller or a field derrick. Field sports are hunting, fishing, athletic games, etc. [1913 Webster] Coal field (Geol.) See under Coal. Field artillery, light ordnance mounted on wheels, for the use of a marching army. Field basil (Bot.), a plant of the Mint family (Calamintha Acinos ); -- called also basil thyme. Field colors (Mil.), small flags for marking out the positions for squadrons and battalions; camp colors. Field cricket (Zo["o]l.), a large European cricket (Gryllus campestric), remarkable for its loud notes. Field day. (a) A day in the fields. (b) (Mil.) A day when troops are taken into the field for instruction in evolutions. --Farrow. (c) A day of unusual exertion or display; a gala day. Field driver, in New England, an officer charged with the driving of stray cattle to the pound. Field duck (Zo["o]l.), the little bustard (Otis tetrax), found in Southern Europe. Field glass. (Optics) (a) A binocular telescope of compact form; a lorgnette; a race glass. (b) A small achromatic telescope, from 20 to 24 inches long, and having 3 to 6 draws. (c) See Field lens. Field lark. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The skylark. (b) The tree pipit. Field lens (Optics), that one of the two lenses forming the eyepiece of an astronomical telescope or compound microscope which is nearer the object glass; -- called also field glass. Field madder (Bot.), a plant (Sherardia arvensis) used in dyeing. Field marshal (Mil.), the highest military rank conferred in the British and other European armies. Field officer (Mil.), an officer above the rank of captain and below that of general. Field officer's court (U.S.Army), a court-martial consisting of one field officer empowered to try all cases, in time of war, subject to jurisdiction of garrison and regimental courts. --Farrow. Field plover (Zo["o]l.), the black-bellied plover (Charadrius squatarola); also sometimes applied to the Bartramian sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda). Field spaniel (Zo["o]l.), a small spaniel used in hunting small game. Field sparrow. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A small American sparrow (Spizella pusilla). (b) The hedge sparrow. [Eng.] Field staff (Mil.), a staff formerly used by gunners to hold a lighted match for discharging a gun. Field vole (Zo["o]l.), the European meadow mouse. Field of ice, a large body of floating ice; a pack. Field, or Field of view, in a telescope or microscope, the entire space within which objects are seen. Field magnet. see under Magnet. Magnetic field. See Magnetic. To back the field, or To bet on the field. See under Back, v. t. -- To keep the field. (a) (Mil.) To continue a campaign. (b) To maintain one's ground against all comers. To lay against the field or To back against the field, to bet on (a horse, etc.) against all comers. To take the field (Mil.), to enter upon a campaign. [1913 Webster]